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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps; Army
  • Location of Service: Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Pacific Theater; Korea
  • Highest Rank: Corporal

View full service history

"To most of us--maybe for all of us as Code Talkers--it was just another day at the war, we just did what we were supposed to do, that’s all." (Video interview, 23:18)

Roy O. Hawthorne was born in 1926 in Ganado, Arizona to a Navajo mother and a white father who operated a trading post on the Navajo reservation. During his first year of high school, Hawthorne dropped out to enlist in the Marine Corps at the age of 17, but would later go on to complete a PhD. He was assigned to the 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and during the Battle of Okinawa, Hawthorne recalls taking part in the intense fighting on Dakeshi Ridge, where he called in a critical air strike using the Navajo Code. Hawthorne later served in the Army, where he became a paratrooper, rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant, and also fought in the Korean War, during which he experienced the Chinese Spring Offensive of 1951 before being wounded in the leg by shrapnel from a mortar round. Doctors amputated Hawthorne’s right leg at the knee, but he persevered and stayed in the Army for several more years after the Korean War ended. After being medically retired, he completed seminary school and eventually became a Baptist pastor. Hawthorne also served as a tribal police officer, and was highly involved in the Navajo Code Talkers Association.

About this Item

Title

  • Roy Orville Hawthorne Collection

Names

  • Chalmers Ford, Don
  • Navajo Code Talker's Project
  • Hawthorne, Roy Orville
  • Warren C. Salomon
  • Fleming, Carol

State of Birth

  • AZ

Home State

  • AZ

Headings

  • -  Hawthorne, Roy Orville
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • American Indian and Alaskan Native

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Location of Service: Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Corporal
    • Dates of Service: 1943-?
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a Navajo Code Talker.

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Location of Service: Korea
    • Highest Rank: Corporal
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 12/09/2003)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 12/09/2003)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/52528

Cite as

  • Roy Orville Hawthorne Collection (AFC/2001/001/52528), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Chalmers Ford, Don, Navajo Code Talker'S Project, Roy Orville Hawthorne, Warren C. Salomon, and Carol Fleming. Roy Orville Hawthorne Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.52528/.

APA citation style:

Chalmers Ford, D., Navajo Code Talker'S Project, Hawthorne, R. O., Warren C. Salomon & Fleming, C. (1943) Roy Orville Hawthorne Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.52528/.

MLA citation style:

Chalmers Ford, Don, et al. Roy Orville Hawthorne Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.52528/>.